The Frighteners

Rating:
Summary: More FUN than FRIGHT, but a ride worth taking
Review: With all the interest in Peter Jackson since his marvelous work on Lord of the Rings, this movie is bound to get a lot of renewed attention, and I hope lots of people will finally watch it.

First of all, the special effects, although fairly tame by today's standards, are really quite good. There is a "grim reaper" type of character who flies around doing terrible harm thoughout the movie, and he is very nicely done. It's kind of a precursor to the fabulous effects Jackson would helm for LOTR. And the special effects were done at Weta Workshop, who also handled, you guessed it, LOTR!!

The story is fairly simple. Michael J. Fox makes his living as a "ghostbuster", for lack of a better word, and it so happens he can see ghosts, and has a handful of them who help him out by created supernatural disturbances,which he can then stop for his frightened customers (and get paid handsomely too). But he gets implicated in a series of mysterious deaths in his small community, and the plot accelerates from there.

The movie is more funny and clever than scary. Although it goes for thrills, it doesn't go for chills too much (although there are a few scenes late in the film with Jake Busey, playing a serial killer, that are a bit creepy and probably earned the movie its "R" rating). A real treat is seeing Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator) as a truly deranged FBI agent, who looks like an SS stormtrooper, trying to crack the case, yet also losing his grip on sanity. He's a comic delight to watch.

I would say the movie is maybe 10 minutes too long. The pace sags once in awhile. Also, the romance that blooms in the movie is a bit tepid...Fox was really never too good at generating heat.

But overall, I highly recommend it for a fun, frantic and mostly unique good time.

Rating:
Summary: Breathless, non-stop insanity...and clever, too
Review: I really like this film! Michael J. Fox has always been at his best when he does the fantasy thing, and he's in top form here. I won't go into descriptions of stuff, because it's all been said. Fox has an energy that's unending, belying the sad trials of Parkinson's that he subsequently acquired. Peter Jackson is best known for "Lord of the Rings", but his earlier work is quite profound (don't forget the haunting "Heavenly Creatures", giving Kate Winslet her big break). He shows a definite flair for fantasy. The make-up effects are bizarre, and the whole plot is so outrageous that it could only be pulled off with loads of humor, which is delivered in spades! The DVD gives an excellent transfer of the film, both in sound and picture, but the only extras are written biographies and production notes. I would've loved to see some interviews. This is the first film to present state-of-the-art special effects outside Hollywood (Jackson's own New Zealand), though I think it was filmed in the USA; Robert Zemeckis was the producer. Jackson also co-wrote the very clever script. The acting shows much dedication to the subject matter. It's a stellar cast, including Dee Wallace Stone (hard to think she was the mom in "E.T."); John Astin, Chi McBride & Jim Fyfe as good ghosts; Jake Busey (a natural as the psychotic ghost); Julianna McCarthy (excellent as the domineering mother); Peter Dobson (obnoxious by-stander); and the wonderful Lee Ermey, repeating his role from "Full Metal Jacket" as the marine sergeant ghost. A riot. The lovely Trini Alvarado could be confused for Andie MacDowell, except Trini has more facial expression & character. She's quite fine. The GREAT performance in the film is from Jeffrey Combs, as the eccentric FBI inspector who's the true psychotic of the bunch. It's over-the-top and thoroughly entertaining. Danny Elfman's music adds his usual plus to the already amazingly creative goings-on, to present a totally wonderful experience. Check this out to discover the genius behind the man who ultimately gave us "Lord of the Rings". This is a fine, fun film, as long as you let yourself kick back and run with it. You can't be disappointed!

Rating:
Summary: total disapointment
Review: I was really disapointed by this movie made by my favorite director Peter Jackson. I was wondering how anyone could possible like this movie it is dumd and ridiculeos, there is no way Peter Jackson made this.

Rating:
Summary: bizzare, hyperactive, brilliant!
Review: peter jackson's horror masterpiece, The Frighteners, is so unusual it almost defies description or definition.

it was billed as slap-stick horror/comedy, along the lines of something like Night of the Living Dead. indeed, there are several funny instances and characters - the good ghosts, for example - and Michael J. Fox is a comedian. but that's about as useful as that classification is; the movie possesses the postmodern hyperactivity of a comedy, but not the tone.

the grim reaper/serial killer figure is truly terrifying; his motivation is realistic - crazy, yes, but not unbelievable. the style of filming often matches the best film noirs - in fact, the incongruous detective reminds me strongly of Dale Cooper from Twin Peaks.

and the location - has there ever been a more apt setting more such a bizzare movie?! the strikingly angular cliffs, the deep bay, the ubiquitous fog,...i cant praise the location-finder enough - i'd love to visit that place someplace. it actually subsumes the characters, it's so striking!

Rating:
Summary: A very different kind of horror movie......
Review: How this movie escaped me the first time around, I'll never know, but when I had finally seen it, I was very much entertained. Not exactly a "B" movie, this movie has a sort of comedic situation set up that seems to intertwined with a horror situation connected by one thing: Micheal J Fox. The acting here isn't bad at all, with some great actors/actresses. MJ Fox is pretty damn good in this, something I haven't seen since Back To The Future. Dee Wallace Stone is pretty good as well, making it hard to believe that this was also Eliot's mother in E.T. There are quite a few other good perfomances in this, as well as a greatly welcomed, well done, yet creepy appearance by Jeffrey Combs of Re-Animator fame. The story line is quite good, maybe predictable, maybe not, but worth the watch either way.

Rating:
Summary: BEST MJ FOX MOVIE SINCE BACK TO THE FUTURE
Review: Frank Bannister is a simple single man with an average life eccept for one problem. HE CAN SO GHOSTS!!!!! He even lives with some and befriends them. The biginning of this movie makes you think it's gonna be a stupid ghost/comedy movie that Michael J. Fox has wasted his time on. WELL IT'S NOT. Close to the middle of the movie is when the horror begins. In other words, All Hell Breaks Loose starting with this part of the movie. Frank notices a very creepy looking spirit flying around and killing people in his town. It seems that it reaches inside its victums and squeezes their hearts until they they stop. This creature looks just like the grim reaper, complete with cloaked body and sythe in hand. Frank attempts to stop it with the help of his ghost friends but with little affect. Frank can see who it will come after next because just before they die, he notices they have numbers carved into their foreheads. Trying to save people, however, only makes him become a suspect in this murder spree. When this evil spirit starts coming after the women he's in love with, having already lost his wife in a car crash, he takes this save the victums thing to a whole new level. He trys an out-of-body expierence to fight the evil spirit hand to hand. This was one of the great special effects scene. Another good special effects scene is when victums die and float up into the spirit world. There is a huge cloudy spiral and everything. This movie has funny parts early on but middle to end is terrifing, slasher , blood and guts horror. Michael J. Fox does a great acting job. If you barely like him at all you will love The Frighteners.

Rating:
Summary: Frightening and Funny!
Review: This has to be one of the most underrated horror movies ever made. It accomplishes what only one other movie I have seen has been able to accomplish--to be very scary and very funny, with neither of these traits lowering the impact of the other (the other movie is "Tremors", which I also highly recommend).

The plot revolves around Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) who, since the death of his wife in a car accident, has become able to see spirits and even interact with them. The town he lives in has been having a large number of mysterious deaths, where people have suffered what appears to be a heart attack but they have no heart disease or heart block. It's as if something had reached inside their chests and squeezed their hearts till they stopped.

Not too much plot description can be given without giving too much of the movie away, but Frank finds himself trying to fight the cause of these deaths (which appears to look like the Grim Reaper) and along the way meets a doctor, whose husband is one of the victims, and an FBI agent who gets "all the weirdo cases" and makes Fox Mulder look normal (you have to see "Agent Dahmers" to believe him--and Jeffrey Coombs, who plays the role, steals all of his scenes).

All of this is tied to a mass murder years before at a local sanitarium, but Frank has to risk his life to find out what is going on before he can begin to try to figure out how to stop it.

I've watched this movie so many times that I wore out my VHS version and bought it on DVD. Even after you've seen the movie and seen the pieces all fall into place, it's still enjoyable to watch. It still is creepy and funny, even after multiple viewings. I think it is one of the best horror movies ever made.

Rating:
Summary: I need an out-of-body experience right now
Review:

Overlooked thriller from Peter Jackson, and I believe, MJ Fox's last movie. This movie is definitely worth renting if not buying. Original, unpredictable story line, a bit convoluted here and there, but it never lets you down. The CGI effects are kinda dated as of this writing, but the comedic acting is right on target.

Though the film has elements of Beetlejuice, Ghost, The 6th Sense, and Ghostbusters, it's still original in its own right. It may take you a little time to appreciate the director's vision, but when you do you'll have a good time.

...

Rating:
Summary: One of the few genuinely scary films
Review: I don't know why I'm bothering since there are already 70 revies of this film, but I'm just compelled to do this. The Frighteners is probably the best horror movie ever made. Most films in that genre rely on gore or sudden action to scare there audience, but Peter Jackson is having none of that. This film builds its creepyness into a frenzy that you should not watch alone in the dark.

What makes this film so good at scaring you is the way Jackon's story weaves the ordinary life of Frank Banister (Fox) from a chance encounter with some truly evil people, into a vice-like grip where Banister must break free or be brought down himself. And when I say that the villians in this film are evil, I don't me the typical horror movie "I'm a phychopath, so I kill people" evil, no Jackson gives them motivations that hit you where you live.

Without giving anything away, let me conclude by saying that this movie is a masterpiece of horror worthy of Hitchcock (OK, that may be going a bit far, but not much). It has almost no gore (and what's there is mild) yet it delivers a spooky, chilling aptmosphere that will linger long after you swich off your set. The perfomances by the actors are top knotch and Peter Jackson does a masterful job of blending drama and comidy while still delivering a deep and complex plot.

See it today, but don't see it alone.

Rating:
Summary: A very intense movie
Review: Peter Jackson had already won fame for Heavenly Creatures in which we could see his good hand in suspense and horror. Now in Lord of the Rings it transpires again most effectively, making the atmposphere of Tolkien's story heavier than in the book. This is clearly perceptipble in his rendering of the Ringwraiths, when they are on screen, the movie is very intense.

Here in The frighteners we have a Horror-Comedy movie, and alike, it has very intense moments for a comedy, and original and terrible elements in a horror movie.

Michael J. Fox's character has to battle an evil spirit who is killing people indiscriminately, since he is psychic, he is the only one who sees it, and he gets help from ghosts he befriends;
but soon he is the main suspect of the murders.

But no living person or dead is safe because the evil one can kill both and collect their souls.

Great special effects, great suspense, and story. This is Michael J. Fox's most thrilling movie since Back to the future part one.